Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC), the indirect tax policy-making body, has compulsorily retired 22 senior officers of the rank of Superintendent/AO under Fundamental Rule 56 (J) in the public interest, due to corruption and other charges.

This is the third round of tax officials being shown door in recent months.

“This action is in line with what the Prime Minister has said in his address to the nation from the ramparts of Red Fort that some black sheep in the tax administration may have misused their powers and harassed taxpayers, either by targeting honest assesses or by taking excessive action for minor or procedural violations.”, a tax official said.

"We have recently taken the bold step of compulsorily retiring a significant number of tax officials, and we will not tolerate this type of behaviour,” he added.

It may be noted that 27 high ranking Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officers including 12 officers from Central Board Of Direct Taxes (CBDT) were compulsorily retired under Fundamental Rules 56(J).